Elevator



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N.'0. BASSETT. ELEVATOR.

No. 535343 Patented Mar. 12, 1895..

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

N. C. BASSETT. ELEVATOR.

No. 535,343. I 0 Patented Mar. 12, 1895.

THE Noam PETERS ca, PuoTmLgTna. wnsmnmom u. c,

(No Model) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4,

N. 0. BASSETT. ELEVATOR.

No. 535,343. Patented M31212, 1395.

STATES AT NORMAN O. BASSE'IT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE NATIONAL COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 535,343, dated March 12, 1895.

' Application filed August 1 7, 1886. $erial No. 211,099. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern: him at the same speed at which the car is Be it known that I, NORMAN O. BASSETT, a moving the valve or other mechanism will be citizen of the United States, residing at Chioperated so quickly that the car will be cago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, brought to rest with a sudden shock, very 55 5 have invented certain new and useful Imdisagreeable to passengers and dangerous to provements in Elevators, fully described and the machinery of the elevator. In order to represented in the following specification and avoid this difficulty as much as possible it the accompanying drawings, forming a part has been customary in practice to soarrangc of the same. the connections between the operating rope 60 to This invention relates to an apparatus for and the mechanism which controls the moveoperating the valve or other mechanism by ments of the car that the distance through which the movements of ahydraulic or other which the rope must be moved to stop or elevator are controlled. start the car is much greater than the move In elevators as at present most commonly ment of the stopping and starting mechan" 65 I5 constructed the valve or other mechanism for ism itself. The distance which the rope can controlling the movements of the car is operbe readily moved is, however, limited to three ated by means of an endless rope which is or four feet from the fact that as soon as the suspended in the elevator shaft in such posi- Operator begins to move the rope to start the tion as to pass through the car'without being car in either direction the car begins to move 70 connected thereto and is arranged to be in the opposite direction and he must theremoved freely in either direction around pulfore be able to move the rope the required leys located above and below the travel of the distance at one pull on the rope for as soon car. This rope is connected at the proper as the car starts he is moving so fast relapoint in any suitable way with the valve or tively to the rope that if he then attempts to 75 other mechanism by which the movements of grasp the rope and move it but little, if any the car are controlled in such manner that efiect is produced. Now it has been found by moving the rope around its pulleys in the in practice that an elevator car moving at the proper direction the car can be either raised rate of three hundred to three hundred and or lowered or stopped in any position. The fifty feet per minute, which is about the aver 8o connections between the rope and the mechage speed, can not be brought to rest without anism which controls the movement of the a disagreeable sensation to the passengers car are so arranged that to start the car from and danger to the elevator, in a less distance any position it is necessary to move the rope than ten feet. If the movement of the operin the opposite direction from that in which ating rope to fully operate the starting and 85 it is desired to start the car, while to stop the stopping mechanism is made ten feet the opcar it is necessary to move the rope in the erator can stop the car properly and safely by same direction in which the car is moving. simply grasping and holding the rope tightly, With the rope thus arranged theoperator in allowing the motion of the car to operate the order to start the car either up or down from stopping mechanism, but if the rope is re- 0 0 any position grasps the rope and moves it in quired to be moved this distance to stop the the opposite direction from that which he car it must, of course, move the same distance Wishes the car to move and as the car comin the reverse direction to again set the car mences to move he releases the rope allowing in motion at the same speed, and this exthe latter to remain stationary, the car [neantended movement of the rope would require 5 while attainingaspeed varying with different several pulls which, as just explained, is not elevators from two hundred to six hundred practicable. feet per minute, and even higher. When the It is the object of the present invention to operator wishes to stop the car he must grasp overcome this difficulty and to provide means the stationary rope while he, being in the car, by which the operator can at all times move 10) 5c is moving at a considerable speed. If he the rope either up or down to any desired exgrasps the rope firmly so as to move it with tent which may be necessary to raise, stop or lower the car entirelyindependent of and unembarassed by the movement of the car.

As a full understanding of the invention can be best imparted by a detailed description of the apparatus in which itis embodied all preliminary description will be omitted and a full description given, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of an ordinary form of hydraulic elevator, showing the present invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same taken on the line 0000 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line y y ofthe same figure. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a modified form of the invention. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4 looking from the left of said figure; and Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate means by which the rope for stopping; and starting the elevator may be operated.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 it is to be understood that A represents the lifting cylinder having the usual lifting piston; B, the traveling pulley attached to the piston rod of the cylinder; 0, the lifting cable; D, the pulley around which the cable passes at the top of the elevator shaft; E, the car, and F the frame-work of the shaft of an ordinary hydraulic elevator. The lifting cylinder A is provided with the usual stopping and starting mechanism consisting of the valve G which controls the admission and discharge of the water to and from the lower end of the cylinderA. All of these parts are constructed and arranged in the usual manner and are so well understood in the art as to need no specific description.

The valve G is operated by means of the usual endless rope H which passes through the car E and around the pulleys a I) located respectively above and below the travel of the car. The pulley a is suspended upon a short rope c which passes over a fixed pulley dand is provided at its opposite end with the weight e, the purpose of this being to maintain the rope H taut at all times and compensate for any variation in its length. The pulley b is fixed upon a sleevef which is of considerable length and is arranged to be turned freely upon a shaft 9 which is journaled so as to turn freely in suitable brackets h which are located at the bottom of the shaft. The sleevef is screw threaded upon its interior and engages with corresponding threads formed upon the shaft gin such a manner that when the sleeve is turned about the shaft a longitudinal movement is imparted to the sleeve,as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The sleeve f is provided with a circumferential recess in which is located a collar 't' which turns freely upon the sleeve and is provided with projecting lugs K which enter slots in the forked end of an arm Z extending from a rock shaft m having a second arm n which is connected by a link 0 to the valve G. In addition to the usual rope H the car E is provided with a second rope K which is fastened to the car so as to travel therewith and passes around pulleys g r which are also located respectively above and below the travel of the car. The pulley q like the pulley a is suspended from a rope e which passes around a fixed pulleyt and is provided at its opposite end with a weight a whereby the rope K is maintained taut the same as the rope H. The pulley r is fixed to the shaft g. The rope K may be secured to the car E in any convenient manner. It preferably will be so secured by having its ends fastened to eye bolts at the top and bottom of the car, as shown.

It is to be remarked that the shaft g while it is arranged to turn freely in the brackets h, is so arranged that it is incapable of longitudinal movement in the brackets.

The operation of the'apparatus thus organized is as follows: Assuming the car E to be at rest, the operator, in order to start the car either up or down, will grasp the rope H and move it either up or down according to the direction in which the car is to be started. The movement of the rope H will cause the pulley b and the sleeve f to turn upon the shaft g and this, by reason of the screw threads upon the'shaft and the sleeve, will cause the latter to move longitudinally along the former. This longitudinal movement of the sleeve will of course impart a vibrating movement to the arm I which, through the shaft m, will be communicated to the arm n and will either raise or lower the valve as the case may be and start the car in the direction desired. As the car moves the rope K, being fixed to the car and passing around the pulley 0", will revol vethe shaft 9 and thus impart a corresponding movement to the sleevef and pulley b and as the pulleys b r are of the same size the movement of the rope H will be the same as that of the rope K, or in other words,- the rope H will move with the car and may therefore be held continually by the operator. It will also be observed that as the pulleysb r are of the same size the movement of the rope H with the car will have no tendency to move the sleeve falong the shaft as this movement of the rope 1-1 will not impart any movement to the sleeve f around the shaft g. If the friction of the rope II should at any time be so great as to prevent the sleeve f from turning with the shaft g and thus cause the movement of the shaft to shift the sleeve longitudinally it can readily be overcome by the operator by simply grasping and holding the rope while the car is in motion. From this it will be seen that when the car is in motion the rope H moves with the car and is therefore at all times stationary with relation to the car so that no matter how fast or how slow the car is moving the rope can always be moved to any desired extent by the operator, the motion of the car affording him no embarrassment. When, therefore, it is desired to stop the car the operator, holding the rope in his hand, simply moves it up or down, thereby either turning the sleevefin the contrary direction to the rotation of the shaft g ICO or in the same direction but ata greater rate of speed, and thus moves the sleeve longitudinally on the shaft so as to move the armsl n and through them operate the valve, and this movement of the rope the operator can continue until the rope has been moved the necessary distance and at the proper speed to bring the elevator to rest without shock or strain. During this operation it will be seen that the operator is entirely unembarrassed by the movement of the car, the rope II, as before stated, being stationary with respect to the car.

In order to facilitate the grasping of the rope by the operator it may be provided with suitable buttons '0 as shown in Fig. 2.

From what has been said itwill be seen that the only function of the rope K is to control the rotation of the shaft 9 with relation to the sleeve f; that is to say, to cause the shaft to revolve in unison with the sleeve f so long as the rope H moves with the car or is stationary with relation to the car, and to prevent the shaft from taking any movement imparted to the sleeve by the movement of the rope II with relation to the car. This result can, however, be accomplished without the aid of the rope K and as in some cases it may be desirable to dispensewith this extra rope, I have in Figs. 4. and 5 illustrated a form of my invention in which this rope is omitt'ed. In this case the shaft to upon which the pulley D is mounted is provided with a threaded extension upon which the sleeve f carrying the collar 2' and pulley b is mounted. The pulley b is in this case of the same size as the pulley D. The rope H instead of passing around a single pulley corresponding to the pulley a passes around two pulleys a located a distance apart at the bottom of the shaft. This however, is merely a matter of convenience. A single pulley may be used at the bottom of the shaft if preferred. As, however, the single pulley in this case would have to be of comparatively large size, it will usually be preferable to employ two small ones as shown. The pulleysct' are in this case shown'as stationary but one or both of them may be readily made movable and provided with a spring or weight to keep the rope taut. The arms Z n and the shaft m are in this case of course located at the top instead of at the bottom of the shaft and the link 0' is made of sufficient length to extend downward to the valve. In order to counterbalance the weight of this long link it will usually befound desirable to provide the shaft m with an arm a: extending in the opposite direction to the arm 'n and provided with a suitable weight g for that purpose.

The operation of the apparatus when thus organized is exactly the same as already described except that the motion is imparted to the pulley b and rope H by means of the cable 0, pulley D and shaft to instead of by the rope K, pulley r and shaft g. Although the rope H may be operated by being grasped by the operatorto be moved up or down it will usually be preferable to effect thenecessary movement of the rope through the medium of mechanical devices carried by the car.

In Figs. 6 and 7 two forms of devices suitable for this purpose are illustrated. In Fig. 6 the rope H is shown as passing round a drum or pulleyz mounted on the car, which drum is provided with a suitable hand wheel j by which it can be turned so as tomovethe rope up or down. In Fig. 7 the same result is accomplished by means of a hand lever L which is fulcrumed on the car and connected at one end to the rope. In this case it is of course not necessary that the rope H should pass through the car, and when the drum is used as shown in Fig. 6 the drum may be upon the outside of the car, the shaft of the drum passing through into the car. I

It will be readily understood that the form of the devices for communicating the motion of the'rope H to the stopping and starting mechanism may be varied widely without departing from the broad feature of the invention.

Although I have hereinillustrated and described my invention asapplied to a hydraulic elevator, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to this class of elevators.

The sleeve f may be provided with connections for operating the stoppingand starting mechanism no matter of what form such mechanism may be. I

The specific form of apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is not herein claimed as that subject matter is claimed in an application for Letters Patent filed September 4, 1886, Serial No. 212,669 (now Letters Patent No. 379,556, of March 8, 1888).

What I claim is 1. The combination with an elevator car and its lifting and stopping and starting mechanisms, of a pulley driven so as to revolve in conformity to the movements of the car, a second pulley turningwith said first pulley and free to be turned independently thereof, a threaded connection between said pulleys, a rope I-I, traveling with the car and passing around said second pulley and free to be moved to turn said pulley independently of the movement of the car, and connections through which the lateral movement of the pulley is imparted to the stoppingand startingmechanism, substantially as described.

2. The combination with an elevatorcar and its lifting and stopping and starting mechanisms, of a threaded shaft driven so as to be revolved in conformity to the movements of the car, a threaded sleeve upon said shaft free to turn with the shaft and be turned independ ently thereof, the rope II passing around a pulley upon the sleeve and traveling with the car and free to be movedaround said pulley independently of the movement of the car, and connections by which the longitudinal movement of said sleeve is imparted to the stopping and starting mechanism, substantially as described.

3. The combination with an elevator car and its lifting and stopping and starting mechanisms, of the threaded shaft 9 and the rope K attached to the car and passing around a pulley upon said shaft, the threaded sleevef arranged upon the shaftg and provided with the pulley b, the rope H passing around the pulley b and traveling with the car and free to be moved around said pulley independently of the movement of the car, and connections by which the longitudinal movement of the sleeve is imparted to the stopping and starting mechanism, substantially as described.

4. The combination with an elevator car, its lifting mechanism and stopping and starting valve, of a threaded shaft driven so as to be revolved in conformity to the movements of the car, a threaded sleeve upon said shaft free to turn with the shaft and be turned independently thereof, the rope I-l passing around a pulley upon the sleeve and traveling with the car and free to be moved around said pulley independently of the movement of the car, and connections by which the longitudinal movement of said sleeve is imparted to the stopping and starting valve, substantially as described.

5. The combination with an elevator car and its lifting and stopping and starting mechanisms, of a threaded shaft driven so as to be revolved in conformity to the movements of the car, a threaded sleeve upon said shaft free to turn with the shaft and be turned independently thereof, the rope H passing around a pulley upon the sleeve and traveling with the car and free to be moved independently of the movement of the car, an operating device carried by the car and connected to the rope for moving it around said pulley independently of the movement of the car, and connections by which the longitudinal movement of the sleeve is imparted to the stopping and starting mechanism, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

NORMAN O. BASSETT. Witnesses:

E. R. CHAMBERLAIN, JAs. J. GRooL. 

